Holistic Peacekeeping

To help promote interest in the Conflicts:1945 to Today galleries with emphasis on the Australian Army participation in unarmed UN peacekeeping efforts, Roy Skinner AM ED a former engineer, peacekeeper and UN official, spoke about Holistic Peacekeeping, AWM 2 March 2008. Roy is the author of numerous articles and the book, Jerusalem to Baghdad 1967-1992 Selected Letters.

The speaker was introduced by Dr Peter Londey, a former AWM Senior Military Historian, author of Other People's Wars, editor of the Official History of Peacekeeping and Lecturer in Classics at the ANU.

Dr Londey spoke of Roy's pre-UN commissioned service in both the CMF (Reserve Army) and Regular Army and his work with the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of NSW and the Hydro-Electric Commission of Tasmania. Referring to Roy's service 1967-1969 with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine, he stated that at short notice Roy had led teams of officers from many countries when he set up the Kantara ceasefire control centre on the Suez Canal following the June 1967 War. His team's task was to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Egypt. Roy went on to serve with the UN's International Civil Service in the Middle East.

Dr Londey added that Roy served in a total of ten UN posts in four UN Agencies in Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and West Bank making a major contribution to peace. In the speech he would give details of some of this experience.